How Eagan is run
Who runs Eagan, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Eagan's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Eagan
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- $7,200 a year vehicle allowance
- Six months' salary and benefits as severance if terminated without cause
- Health insurance: $93,000 budgeted for the mayor and council in 2026
- Public Employees Defined Contribution Plan (PERA)
Eagan city staff
327 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 98, Fire 48. FY2025. City of Eagan · May 27, 2026
The budget shows total salaries and position counts. We found no city-published pay list for individual employees. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Eagan in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $27.5M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: Keep unassigned general fund balance at 45% to 50% of the next year's spending budget. At the end of 2025 it equaled 45.7% of the 2026 budget. The city meets this target. City of Eagan · May 27, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026.
Comes from
- Property tax$46.2M · 77%
- Transfers in, mostly from the utility fund$4.2M · 7%
- Charges for services$2.6M · 4%
- State and federal aid$2M · 3%
- Permits$1.8M · 3%
- Recreation charges$1.1M · 2%
- Other (licenses, fines, investment income, program revenue, fund balance)$2.4M · 4%
Goes to (FY2026)
- Police$21.6M · 36%
- Fire$9.3M · 15%
- Information technologies$3.9M · 6%
- Recreation$3.3M · 5%
- Parks$3.2M · 5%
- Streets and highways$3M · 5%
- Other departments and contingency$16M · 26%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Minnesota property taxes are mostly set as a rate on a property's tax capacity. This split leaves out voter-approved school levies charged on market value.
44¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Eagan
- City of Eagan36.177 · 44%
- Independent School District 196Parts of Eagan are in School Districts 191 and 197, with different rates.22.968 · 28%
- Dakota County19.948 · 24%
- Special districts3.053 · 4%
- Total (percent of tax capacity)82.146
Taxes payable 2025 tax capacity rates for property in Eagan (Dakota County), School District 196 area. City of Eagan · May 27, 2026
See what a Eagan house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Eagan is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityEagan Police DepartmentCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- FireThe cityEagan Fire DepartmentCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- Emergency medical careThe cityEagan Fire DepartmentCity of Eagan · Dec 16, 2025
- 911 dispatchAnother agencyDakota Communications CenterCounty-wide public safety answering point run jointly by Dakota County and its cities.City of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- WaterThe cityCity water utilityCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- Sewage treatmentAnother agencyMetropolitan CouncilCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- StreetsThe cityEagan Public WorksCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe cityEagan Parks and RecreationCity of Eagan · May 27, 2026
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | Eden PrairieMN | Coon RapidsMN | BurnsvilleMN | EaganMN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 63,075 | 64,193 | 65,244 | 67,109 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $253,864 | $243,650 | Not current (2022) | Not current (2022) |
| Council member pay | $14,137 | Not current (2022) | $18,000 | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,014 | $706 | $1,047 | $898 |
| Debt per resident | $746 | $1,233 | $1,866 | $1,040 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $256 | $238 | $322 | $275 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What Eagan publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineCouncil meeting videos, agendas and minutes are posted in the city's Granicus video archive. City of Eagan · Oct 10, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Eagan · Dec 16, 2025
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Eagan · Dec 2, 2025
Questions to ask your council
- Police and fire make up about half of the $60.3 million general fund budget for 2026. What service levels does that spending pay for?
- The 2026 general fund budget rose 9.3%, to $60.3 million, and uses $1,052,300 of one-time state public safety aid. How will the city pay for those costs once the aid runs out?
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $27.5 million at the end of 2025, 45.7% of the 2026 budget, near the low end of the 45% to 50% target. How does the council plan to keep reserves in that range?
- Bonded debt rose $17.8 million in 2025, to $69.8 million. How much more borrowing does the capital plan expect?
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